The Europass is out - The Eurail Select Pass is in!
The Europass used to be a European rail pass valid for the five most traveled countries: France, Germany, Italy, Switzerland and Spain. If you had any countries in between then they could be added for an additional fee. You had to make sure that if your trip took you through a country other than one of the five then you had to buy that addition to your pass or be charged regular fare.
But the old Europass has since been replaced by the Eurail Select Pass. You can still use your old Europass if purchased before January 1, 2003 (make sure you check). The Eurail Select Pass provides you with more flexibility now. It allows travel between three to five adjoining countries and it does not matter whether it is by ground or water. With all the combinations of countries in Europe, who knows what you will come up with as far as the optimum combination of countries to visit?
The restriction with the Eurail Select Pass is that it must be purchased for travel within adjoining countries and have a direct port of entry between them. This means that when you travel from one country to another on your pass it must be a direct link either by rail or sea and not pass through a country not on your pass. There are 23 countries altogether that participate in this plan: Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Denmark, Spain, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Netherlands, Hungary, Italy, Luxembourg, Montenegro, Norway, Portugal, Republic of Ireland, Romania, Serbia, Slovenia, Sweden and Switzerland.
The purchasing options you have for the Eurail Select Pass are 5, 6, 8, 10, and 15 days within a two-month span. What exactly does that mean? It means that you can travel the number of days you purchased travel for within a two-month timeframe. For example, if you purchase the 8-day plan, you can travel any eight days within a two-month time span. The clock starts running on that two-month period at the point you take your first trip using the pass. The travel days do not have to be consecutive. So, you can buy a 6-day pass and travel one day, wait a week, travel another day, and so on-as long as it is all done within the 2-month period.
Also good to know for purposes of pass usage is what is meant by a rail day. A rail day spans from midnight in any day until midnight the next day but there is a 7:00 PM (19:00) rule. This rule states that if you board a train after 7:00 P.M. in any given day, you will only be charged with travel for the next day (you are only charged one rail day instead of two).
There are some restrictions and pluses on the Eurail Select Pass such as the passes are not available to residents of Turkey, Algeria, Tunisia, Morocco, and the Russian Federation. Any person under the age of 3 can ride for free, children ages 4 thru 11 ride at half the adult fare, and youth ages 12 to 25 can buy youth second class passes. In order to qualify for a first class pass, you must be at least age 26. If the passes are lost or stolen, they cannot be replaced (unless you order Pass Security). And finally, when you buy a pass, it has to be used within six months of the issue date.
Europe has one of the most efficient and modern system of railroads in the entire world. You don’t need a car when you vacation in Europe at all because you can get to basically any country within this continent by at least rail and in some cases alternately by sea. And while you could get to each destination faster by flying, you will miss out on the beautiful landscape throughout this continent. Get your pass and have fun.